Page 24 of Captured By the Cruel Highlander
Freya watched him with a pleased expression, and he glowered at her, irritated at himself for his weakness.
Even so, he went to find his bride.
Emily stormed down the corridors, looking for a way to escape.
Why have I waited until now to do this?He has bewitched me into helpin’ him, and what I should be doin’ is returnin’ to me braither and faither.
“Stay where ye are!”
She turned to see his enormous bulk pursuing her through the corridors. He was not running, but his pace and size were so intimidating that she felt like she was being chased by a bear.
Breaking into a run, she fled down the corridors as she heard an angry curse behind her. She continued on, looking this way and that for a door to escape through. The only one she could see led to the outer courtyard.
Throwing caution to the wind, she made for it, heedless of the heavy rain outside.
I am goin’ to get out of this place and return to me family.
She rushed down the castle steps and out into the night. The rain had looked light from the inside, but it drenched her in seconds. She kept moving, lifting the many layers of her dress into her arms to keep herself from tripping over the yards of unnecessary fabric.
She looked around her for a route out of the castle and spotted a gate that led into some gardens to her left.
Believing that the walls in a private garden might be lower than those around her now, she made for it. But she could still hear Laird MacNiall’s rapid footsteps behind her.
I am a lot faster than him, even in this stupid dress.
She ducked beneath the archway to find herself in a beautifully tended garden. The plants were difficult to see in the darkness, but the hedges and paths were neat and uniform. They led to a statue in the center, which she could not quite make out. An angel or a demon loomed above her, its wings spread wide against the stormy sky.
“Will ye stop runnin’ away from me, woman?” Adam shouted as he appeared beneath the arch. She turned to him, backing away and lifting a hand to warn him to stay back as he tried to reach her. “It’s pishin’ with rain, would ye come inside?”
“Ilikethe rain!”
He stopped, huffing out a long breath that created a cloud of steam around him as she backed away toward the statue. The gravel scrunched beneath her feet, and she felt the drag of her skirts over the uneven stones.
“Ye are bein’ foolish,” he said.
He had to raise his voice over the sound of the heavy rain. His léine was soaked through already, and she could see the outlineof his muscles beneath it. The sight sent an unwelcome heat through her.
I cannae want this man. He is just as bad as the rest of them.
“And ye are just usin’ me to get what ye want,” she replied.
He ran a hand through his long hair, shaking the rain off his shoulders like a dog. It should have been a comical image, but it wasn’t. The sight of his long fingers running through his hair, his wide chest on full display, did strange things to her insides.
“Ye said that ye would help me,” he said, taking a step toward her.
“I ken what I said. I wouldnae even mind what ye are doin’,” she continued as she reached the statue. “But ye are riskin’ me family for yer own gains. I ken ye said that yer plan will work, but what if it doesnae? What if he has already hurt them? I cannae stay in this castle without kennin’ whether they’re alive.”
He shook his head in exasperation as he took a few more steps toward her. “Theyarealive.”
“Ye dinnae ken that.”
“I do.”
“Ye didnae hear him!” she cried desperately, fresh fear coursing through her as she remembered the words James had spoken to her when he had demanded that she become his bride. “He said that if I didnae marry him, me family would die. And I didnae marry him, did I? Because of ye! He might have killed them the moment ye took me.”
“But hewantsye to marry him,” Laird MacNiall said in a low, rumbling voice, as though he were speaking to a child. “He wants ye to marry him still, and he’ll keep them alive to lure ye in. Just trust me.”
A flash of lightning scorched the sky above their heads, and they both glanced up as thunder rumbled loudly.
